[Movie Review] Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)
Plot Summary: When the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second ice age.
Director: Gil Kenan
Writer: Gil Kenan, Jason Reitman
Runtime: 1 hour 55 mins
Main Cast:- Paul Rudd as Gary Grooberson
- Carrie Coon as Callie Spengler
- Finn Wolfhard as Trevor Spengler
- McKenna Grace as Phoebe Spengler
- Kuwait Nanjiani as Nadeem Razmaadi
- Patton Oswalt as Dr. Hubert Wartzki
Review by: Samuel
What I Liked
I actually think this was a better reboot/refresh tan Afterlife was before it. It does a better job mixing the old with the new as the original ghostbusters actually have stuff to do in this movie as full on cast members rather than the third act cameos they were in Afterlife.
On that note, there are a lot of characters in this movie. A lot. But I do think the movie does a good job in balancing them all and making them all contribute to the overarching plot. Because of this, there’s never the feeling of boredom when any two/three characters are on screen. You won’t find yourself saying “can we move back to the other characters” since each of them are involved in the main plot.
Now, while they are all good in their respects the majority of the attention needs to once again go to Mckenna Grace. Just like in Afterlife, her portray of Phoebe is the one who shines most in this film. Phoebe’s brazen attitude and angst are her greatest strength and weakness and generate the best character arc in the film. She a full fledged ghost buster but is still struggling to find her place and connect with others. This actually leads her to form a friendship with a ghost and that relationship is one of the more interesting things the film explores.
Outside of Grace, Kumail Nanjiani was my favorite part of the film. He hilarious. Trust me when I say in a movie with Paul Rudd, Dan Ackroyd, and Bill Murray there are plenty of laughs, but a majority of yours will come from Nanjiani. Both him and Grace just make the movie better when they are on screen.
The main villain is an ice ghost (as the title implies) and the lore surrounding him was quite enthralling. His threat looms over a large part of the movie and seeing the characters dig into what exactly he is leads to some of the more interesting dialogue and scenes.
Speaking of, the effects here are also pretty good. Even though this is an adventure comedy, there are definitely scenes with some ghosts that have a horror element and they are genuinely creepy. The CG is noticeable but not bad or distracting so kudos to the film for that.
What I didn’t Like
Really the only thing I didn’t like was a decision. It stands out because it’s this decision that actually drives the plot to the pint it needs to be, and to say it’s a dumb decision is an understatement. It’s a dumb decision made by a smart character – and it is so uncharacteristic (in every sense of that word) that it almost feels like it was done because the writers git themselves stuck.
